syria strategy is weighing heavily on us all. there needs to be international consequences. >> the entire region braces for a possible war. inkts tailored approaches. not getting into a long conflict. >> make the case to the american people. >> too little and it looks weak. too much and it could create more chaos. >> not a reputation -- >> public opinion was well and truly poisoned by the iraq episode, and we need to understand the public skepticism. >> there really hasn't been any indication from the administration to what our national interest is. >> there will be those who clamor now for having a voice? people need to think these things through.

>> it's a bit of a -- >> in just a couple hours secretary of defense hagel and secretary of state john kerry will be among those briefing members of congress about the situation in syria. as momentum towards a proposed attack shows signs of slowing. while u.n. inspectors spend a third days seeking evidence of chemical weapons used, u.n. security council members met this afternoon to deliberate once again. as for president obama, he says the u.s. has concluded that bashar assad's regime is responsible for last week's attack, and must pay a price. >> we have concluded that the syrian government in fact carried these out. if that's so, then there need to

be international consequences. i have no idea in in i kind of open-ended conflict in syria, but we do have to make sure that when countries break international norms on weapons like chemical weapons that could threaten us, that they are held accountable. >> that said the president has emphasized he has not made a decision on military action. many members of congress are not on board. today the president called house speaker john boehner after boehner sent a her demanding answers to 14 questions before the president orders strikes in syria. bainers's office said the speaker still wants answer, including the legal justification for any military strike, the policy and precedent such a response would set and the objectives and strategy for any potential action. well aware that the specter of rage lume large over deliberation, the president spoke to the concerns of those urging restraint. >> not getting drawn into a long conflict, not a repetition of

iraq, which i know a lot of people are worried about. but if we are saying in a clear and decisive but very limited way, we send a shot across the bow saying stop doing this, that could have a positive effect on our national security over the long term. >> members of congress are still clamoring for the president to get their okay. today a group of 54 house democrats sent a her to president obama, asking him to seek an affirmative decision of congress prior to committing any u.s. military engagement. this afternoon a bipartisan group of more than 100 lawmakers sent a her saying engaging without prior congressional authorization would violate the constitution. earlier today, house intelligence committee chairman mike rogers told my colleague that he believes the president needs to engage congress in a thorough consultation, but stopped short calling for a vote. >> we have to have that more

robust discussion to get against not only members of congress and the representatives of the country involved, but also to be by and by the american people. this is a serious step in a very complicated problem set in syria. >> meanwhile, across the pond, british prime minister david cameron faced similar problems. >> the well many public opinion was well and truly poisoned by the iraq episode, and we need to understand the public skepticism. >> and in another sign of slowing momentum, britain delayed a vote on military action until next week. let's get to ayman mohyeldin, and this drive we felt was inecrachellely going -- really appears to be slowing down. how is that being perceived in the region? >> it has been somewhat echoed by the -- -- for example, if you

look at countries here in the middle east that are close allies, including egypt and jordan, jordan says it won't allow any territory to be used for a possible strike on syria. the egyptian government says it rejects any type of military action, despite the fact that it condemns the use of chemical weapons. given that dynamic, the arab league is scheduled to meet on tuesday and perhaps pass a resolution, but against that backdrop, you also have some of the countries closely allied with syria, including iran. here in lebanon, the government as well as the lebanese militia hezbollah have stood in defiance of the west and in support of the syrian government. that has given every here a moment of pause. everybody wonders if perhaps the

west rushed in without a mandate. we've heard statements from the secretary-general, saying there must be some type of authorization from the united nations security council in order for the u.s. and its allies to carry out any type of military action inside syria. >> nbc's ayman mohyeldin, thank you. chuck todd, host of "the daily rundown" chuck, given the international breaks and these letters, what's the mood on capitol hill to whether they're talking about just consultation, or are they saying they want to take a vote? >> i think you're seeing more and more that want to take a vote, bipartisan senators, saying, you know, what's the hurry? why now? why not wait a couple weeks until congress is back? what is the justification? what's the rationale for doing it now? the white house realizes, you know, this week, the first 48 hours of this week had a white

house and obama administration focused on the international politics, building a coalition, trying to get -- at the time they wanted the arab league to do something proactive. and while they condemned assad, they come out for a military strike. we've seen what's going on across the pond, but the last 24 thundershowers and next appear to be devoted, have a white house focused on the political issues that are hitting them. the president personally has called speaker boehner today. they have started a conversation. it's not one that speaker boehner -- he found the comfort useful, but feels as if he still has more questions, still waiting for more complete answers. then tonight at 6:00, an unclassified briefing that approximately two dozen members of congress are going to be getting from some high-level folks. secretaries kerry, hagel, susan rice, the national security

adviser, folks at the pentagon, dni head james clapper, obviously running through the range of issues, and to be there to answer questions as well. they know they have to improve their relationship here with congress a bit. a lot of this goes back to, you brought up iraq, but the most recent history has to do with libya. a lot of members of congress felt as if the administration did not keep them in the loop on what their plans with our libya until after the fact. i have had members of congress tell me it is better this time. they actually do feel as if the white house is keeping them better informed on syria, but they were more information before the president goes through with what he apparently -- >> can you talk about the split among republicans here? you have some caution, how much we see on the republican side.

>> i think is pretty deep. on the? sa funding bill. that in itself tells you the split. john boehner had the letter yesterday that he sent to the president very publicly. he didn't do that because john boehner wanted the answers, he did that for his own conversation politics. he's got a lot of republican members of the house breathing down his neck going, hey, why aren't you questioning the president more? i have constituents that say no more u.s. playing the world police officer. >> chuck todd, thank you very much. >> you got it. michael ohanlon, and rye yam grim the "the huffington post." michael, you have the president navigating this tough line, emphasizing any engagement would be lilted, he's rejecting the comparisons with iraq, but really it does sort of recall a

no-win situation for the president here. >> there are some parallels, but of course the action here is much, much smaller, and more evocative in terms of its scale of the kind of attacks we used in the years between the wars, after 1991 when desert storm took place and before the invasion of 2003, if saddam would maneuver a brigade close to kuwait or impede the work of weapons inspectors, we would fire off a few cruise missiles. it wasn't exactly a great pattern, but did give us an opportunity to respond in some way. arguably it was a better trade-off than the invasion itself a few years later. in this case, i think the degree of violation of what president assad has done against international law, against the chemical weapons convention, against basic human decency, is such that for us to do nothing would have huge consequences as well. i wonder if the critics of mr.

obama have focused enough on the idea of what it would be like in this international community to see a mass gassing of civil yags and have the world collectively do nothing. >> ryan, we've had a lot of horrible civil wars, and darfur, where the u.s. doesn't intervene, but i am curious about the immediate that that took a pretty hawkish position, and -- i want to read you a bit of the "new york times" editorial. they said -- mr. obama has yet to make clear how military strikes will actually deter chemical attacks. the president can say this isn't iraq, but the fact remains that the standard for intervention is just -- just a lot higher, right? we do have a humanitarian crisis, but you have a lot of people who are skeptical that we could do anything about it. >> sure. right. first they burned through all

their credibility by attacking iraq. you know, as a government you don't get to lie your country into war and then ten years later, and it turns into a disaster, and then ten year later say no, this time believe our intelligence. maybe you're telling the truth this time, but people can quite reasonably not believe. you would challenge the idea that nothing has happened. i mean, assad -- whatever the government's culpability for this chemical attack, you can even put that aside, it's a horrible visual brutal regime. no one will defend that regime. he's been carrying out atrocities for about 16 months now. the kem weapon attack has focused the world on syria. that in itself is a consequence. there are other consequences that could come to syria that don't have to be cruise missiles launched by the united states, but i think your point was the

best one. what then? you drop some bombs on syria. what then? what is that supposed to accomplish, other than sending this signal that we're unhappy that this happened? how do you resolve this conflict through, you know, the means that you want to employ. >> michael, to that point, i would like you to answer that question. you maded analogy that we lobbed cruise missiles. ultimately that did not stop us from escalating to an invasion and what happens if we strike some of these chemical weapons, depots, and that didn't change the behavior? don't we have to then escalate? what happens then? >> excellent questions. i want to agree very strongly with one point ryan made in particular about how the world and any skeptic has the right to see more of the intelligence than we have seen so far. i wouldn't go so far to say the intelligence community deliberately lied, but i agree with the point that they are

wrong or at least the broader message was wrong. i think it's a very fair point. intelligence needs to be shared. i think your question is right on this will not end the syrian war, and it has a limited purpose. it's to tell mr. assad he must not do it again. i think it has the broader purpose of telling the iranians and north koreans that our word means something and that red lines against the proliferation or use of weapons are serious. we're trying to deter iran. onthem to doubt mr. ointo mania's -- so for these reasons i support a limited strike, even though it doesn't answer the question, and i concede the point it will not solve the problem. the march on washington is over, but that means it's time to take to the streets of this fast-food nation.

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that meager income otherwise known as the federal minimum wage has driven thousands in dozens of american cities interest the streets for a general strike today. the protesters say they want a living wage, $15 an hour so they don't have to rely on food stamps. and they want the right to form a labor union. several chains issued statements

defending the opportunities they provide their workforce, which increasingly includes household bread winners, but for now it looks like no fast-food solution to this standoff. coming up, no longer a future star. no, hi tame is now. philip agnew joins me, straight ahead. i -- i believe -- i believe that we -- i believe that we will -- i believe that we will win. i believe that we will win! i believe that we will win! ♪

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those inspiring words were delivered by civil rights leader jo yes lowery on saturday. but as the crowds leave washington after this week's anniversary, who will actually go home and do something? what realistically can they do? one man who's working to agitate on the local level is executive director philip agnew, who also spoke saturday at the lincoln memorial. >> we are the forgotten generation, we are the illegals, were the apathetic, we are the thugs, we are the generation that you locked in the basement but we are today to join in a conversation that will shake the very foundations of this capital.

i love the hat. >> give us the short version. >> i was going to talk about the crisis we're in. it's true that a lot of the things that dr. king -- we're still battling today, but i also was going to talk about the readiness of young people and we're excited to have that torch and run with it. >> there's a reason why so many marched that day and in the days to come were young. for the young are unconstrained by habits of fear. unconstrained by the conventions of what is. >> what was your response to that? >> we live in neighborhoods that are very scary i do agree with

the president that young people are unconstrained. it doesn't mean it doesn't happen, but it doesn't hackle us. it doesn't mean we don't see and observe race, but it doesn't shackle us from moving forward. you see dreamers around the one, fighting to be a part of america, and you see fearlessness in almost every state if you look. >> you were inspired because of what happened with trayvon martin? is that one of the reasons that somebody from their generation has become -- he was mentioned three our fortimes in different speeches, excluding by dr. king's sister. >> it was an alarm cloic for a lot of young people. then for the verdict to not go the way we had expected or plan i think set off a lot of young

even. all i have to do is look around, but i do think that having someone that was our generation that looked just like us taken out of, you have the case of israel hernandez in miami, an artist just graffiti'ing an abandoned mcdonald's taken out. young people are starting to observe that hey, possibly the america we have today isn't the one we want tomorrow. >> interesting in 1963, obviously it was a lot of young people that came out that was the 8th anniversary of emmett till's slaying, but i have to play you this. at the end of the '63 march, they listed ten demands of things that they thought were important that they wanted to see happen -- legislation to guarantee the right to vote. a federal programs to train, and place workers in dignified jobs.

terpt they looking for $2 an hour, if you can believe that. a lot of the same thing what does that say about the country? >> that sell that america is always in need of ren vision we were there to celebrate a dream, but make that dream a reality as well. yes, we still want those things and we want the right to marry, and the right to a livable wage, we want the right for immigrant families to not be separated and thrown all around the country. it also is a man dade, and a call to action. >> you put up a youtube video, but can you quickly give that call to action. >> if any young person in this country has something to say, record your two-minute speech. i was cut out, sophia campos was, use the hug hashtag our ma

stay with us, the day's top lines are coming up. if you say it like you mean it -- sorry, it still doesn't make it so. and a former president. >> but he issued a statement. i did not know he wasn't -- >> he was. no republicans and no conservatives were invited. anncr: expedia is giving away a trip every day.

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♪ now you can give yourself a kick in the rear! v8 v-fusion plus energy. natural energy from green tea plus fruits and veggies. need a little kick? ooh! could've had a v8. in the juice aisle. from remembers the syndrome to forgetting the facts hoar are today's top lines. allegedly, supposedly oh, i'm sure it's true. >> u.s. war ships are heading towards syria. oh, my god, this is going to be kind of an enjoyable switch for obama. >> back from the brink again, you know, we said this yesterday. >> he can start a war that the

next president will be stuck with. >> there really hasn't been any indication from the administration to what our national interest is. >> because they americaed, america changed. because they marched, the civil rights law was passed. >> i wish there would have been more, um -- >> because they marched city councils changed. >> i guess more representation from the other side of the political aisle. >> congress changed and eventually the white house changed. >> i didn't see the speech. i was working. >> what he was describing was the dream of every american. >> i've got a dream. i've got a dream that young black males don't become daddies until after they're married. >> today's event excluded black republicans and conservatives.

>> where is tim scott? >> that was a glaring areas and does not indicate a desire for inclusion. >> grievances against police brutali brutality. >> black america is not going to listen to me. >> they're not going to tune in and say he's trying to help us. the bigotry of others was reason to give up on yourself. >> they're not going to listen to you or any other white person. >> is that -- >> but he issued a at the same time. i did not know he wasn't -- >> no republicans and no conservatives were invited. >> allegedly, posedly, i'm sure it was true. >> joining us michael eric dyson, and dana milbank, michael, you've got a dream that joe walsh pays his child support, but on a completely bill o'reilly said that george w. bush wasn't invited, in fact he was invited, as was his fare,

as was speaker john boehner, as well as eric cantor. so what gives here? >> the fact that the other shoe has dropped, and we know the real deal, let's see if they're equally aggressive about the as is of these noteworthy republicans. the fact is the civil rights movement at its broadest was a nonpartisan affair. martin luther king jr. and the other leaders of that particular march were invested in the radical transformation of america according to principles of democracy. if you were a supporter, whether libertarian, whether you were republican or democratic, then you could participate freely. the point is these republicans units that they are antitheyically opposed to every moment and gesture of black freedom that was articulated yesterday, and more broadly about progressive realization of rights for gale and lesbians and for the environment, for those who embrace those who are so-called illegal immigrants. this is a day to celebrate the

tremendous diversity of america. we know the republicans will have nothing to do with that. >> todayena, to include one tim scott, senator from south carolina, his name has been circulating. his office claimed that he wasn't invited, but as it turns out, he might have actually been. a roll call item today reported that every single member of congress was invited, and scott's office drined, literally within 24 hours, they sent an e-mail say the senator would be in south carolina thus unable to attend. so did republicans get included or did they exclude themselves? what i don't understand is why this us is a mystery. it was all widely reported. that boehner and -- there was only one who accepted and that was abe lincoln, who i suppose didn't have much of a choice. but even abraham lincoln would

most likely be excluded from today's republican party for being insufficiently pure in his ideology. >> yes, he's a rhino. we have to go back to you, michael eric dyson, julian vaughn, i'll get your thoughts on the other side. >> the podium behind me just counted at the end of the day how many republicans will be there. they asked the senior president bush, he couldn't come. they asked junior bush, he said he had to stay with his father. they asked a long list of republicans to come, and to a man and woman they said no, and that they would turn their back on this event was telling about them. the fact that they seemed to want to get black votes, they're not going to get them this way. >> there were 233 republican members of the house, 46 republican senators, is it really possible that none of them had time to attend the event, yes they say they want african-american votes? >> they want the votes, they

never said they wanted to talk with us or hear our positions. they never set they wanted to be empathetic. they never said they wanted to be a voice piece for freedom for those people who are vulnerable. hey, they're being honest, but nothing else. they want to continue to exploit us. they have no investment in trying to have a conversation or a dialogue. look, joy reid, you know this more than most people, that there are tremendous swaths of conservative belief within african-american culture that would comport well with the moral beliefs of republicans if they would simply treat african-american people like human beings. if the predicate of the moral outreach was a sympathy for shared values, they would have a greater sense of communication, and indeed would find that a vote-rich population, but again, they're stabbing themselves in their own backs, playing brutus to their own caesar, and refuse to reign over what votes they

can get. >> dana, this desh where they had they were going to do the exact opposite. they were going to address the issues that you ahead him bring you want. what happened? reince brie bus held his ocelebration with allen west. does this help? >> yes, and he stip'd that one. fuls there for that event, and the case was made that martin luther king today would be supporting the tea party agenda i think what happened is they thought they may not receive a good reception from this crowd, but if you don't show you to play, how do you ever get that reception. >> i think we probably could have done without that, and the whole thing more of a bipartisan

american celebration. >> and, you know what? one of the things that you just made earlier, there are not a lot of points do take sort of a conservative view. president obama got criticized from some about the speech he game, because he supposedly did what is called respectability politics. sand our friend in "the daily beast" wrote that he bought into the narrative. from the american dream, instead blaming sort of a broken blade culture. what's your response to that? >> well, look if james baldwin had a ph.d., he was julani cobb. he's a great writer and a great

analyst you can't come down -- president obama is fond of quoting chris rock by saying black people always want something, get some recognition for something that they should do anyhow, but chris rock also criticizes white american. if president obama were to expressly criticize white america, oh, wait, he did. they like guns, and do stuff when they're desperate they were having none of that. so here's a general rule of them, if you can't bead up on white folks, you probably shouldn't beat up on black folk in public. you should withhold that discourse. it ends up reinforcing the false perception, i think, that you only want black people to be responsible. i think president obama wants republicans to be responsible as well. what he ends up doing, and it looks like it has one wing. it has two wings, and you have to talk about structural

deficits as well as personal responsibility, and you have to talk about a difficult thing to talk about, white people stepping up to the plate and being responsible, too. when mr. obama can do that. when president obama can use his bully pulpit to do both, and then the effectiveness of his excoriation of black people will ring true. martin luther king junior spoke against social injustice. mr. obama, president obama has a far way to go. of a prophetic pulpit, which talks about personal responsibility as well as structural deficits. >> thank you also to dana milbank. coming up, pat robertson said, what about gay americans? you won't believe this. well, actually maybe you will. [ female announcer ] it's simple physics...

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now, a word from "the washington post", jonathan capehart. >> recently at the funeral for my aunt dorothy, a preacher used his eulogy to thunder about sin and lumped my tribe, the homosexuals, into the stew of sinners who can't inherit the kingdom of god. i was having none of that religion-based anti-gay bigotry and let him know it. while i've since learned i wasn't the only one offended by his sermon, i was the only one to let him know, and that's got to change. i bring this up because tell evangelist pat robertson and the latest libel. >> some of the gay community, they want to get people, so if they've got the stuff, they'll have a ring, you shake hands and

ring's got a little thing that you cut your finger? >> really? >> yeah, it's that kind of vicious stuff, which would be the equivalent of murder. >> killer san francisco homosexuals armed with rings that transfer "the stuff" from the infected to the uninfected? i've heard it all, but what i haven't heard is anyone with any juice condemning this man for his consistent outrages. he might a fillerless clinging to homophobic views like a 19th century life preservers, but still a coot with inexplicable clout. will cole told the huffington post that it's well past time that members of not only the lbgt community, but real christians stand up to the extremists like robertson and say, enough. right. enough. it's not enough for me to condemn robertson or even

anderson cooper to eviscerate him. what's needed is for religious leaders embowlened by the good book's teaching of love thy neighbor to tell him in no uncertain terms to stuff it. maybe it would make folks stop saying the horrible things that they do. all right. jonathan, you know what? first of all, great rant. when you told me about this story, i was struck by two things. first of all, how cool it was you walked up to the pastor and confronted him, which i think is great. secondly that in 2013, a pastor would actually feel comfortable giving that kind of sermon. just in your own mind, we celebrated the anniversary. how do you square a civil rights moved led by people of faith and has continued intolerance from the pulpit? ivities i can't square it, but the interesting thing is i felt emboldened and empowered sitting in the front pew, listening to this man denigrate who i am, and

felt empowered to let him know what he did was wrong to me, what he did was offensive, and it was very empowerering to have done that. i felt very good by not only the reaction of my rely it was tiffs, but when i wrote about this, the reaction from arrange the country from people who said they wished they done the same thing, and other people telling me the sermon i heard is the same sermon they have heard countless times, not just in the past, but right now in the 2000s, and '10, '11, '12, '13. >> jonathan, thank you very much. coming up, one of the 18 democratic house members joining nearly 100 republicans to ask president obama to slow down on syria.

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over 100 members of congress have signed a letter to the president. their message -- a military action in syria without congressional approval is a violation of the constitution. joining me now representative zoe lofgren. you said you actually encourage people to read the war powers act. do you feel that because we weren't attacked by syria, no imminent threat, that if we were to strike syria, it actually would be unconstitutional? >> actual violate the war powers act, but let me do a small correction. the numbers of signers on letters has grown today. they're different, but they both

give the same message to the president, which is you need to come to congress and get a vote to authorize action if you intend to take military action. when you add up the signers from both letters, it's 265 members of congress who have told the president that he is not permitted to act absent authorization. >> there was another her. speaker john boehner wrote a really lengthy letter, spelling out 14 different questions that he wants the president to answer to the congress and the american people. but that letter fell short of saying that congress would need to take a vote. is it your belief that it would have to take a vote? >> not only is it my belief, president obama when he was running for president said the same thing. without a vote, yeah, then senator obama said that, vice

president biden said the same thing and had a lengthy legal memorand memorandum. the law is clir. it's posted on my website. it's quite simple and quite clear. but aside from the legal requirement, there is a political requirement. the president believes that some action should be taken. the american public doesn't agree. so he needs to make his case. we need to listen carefully to his arguments, to understand why bombing syria would be good for america, good for the world, what's the end game? if we're going to do this, the american people need to be behind the action, and part of doing that is coming to congress, the people's house, making your case, showing the evidence, and getting a vote. >> you know, i'm struck by the historic parallels. we did have a vote that wound up

putting us into iraq, because congress has not been that assertive, to be honest in asserting its war power authorities. we've had libya and other actions. do you feel that congress just in general has ceded too much authority, not just to this president, but to presidents in general? >> i agree. congress has been complicit in allowing the executive, including this one, but not just this one, to act without regard to the requirements of the constitution and without regard to the war powers act. i think that that is not correct. it's not the right course of action. the fact that it's happened in the past doesn't mean at this juncture in our history that we shouldn't go back to what the law and constitution requires. i think the country will be better off if we do, and there's a broad bipartisan consensus, way more than a majority in the house that says the same thing. >> congresswoman just very briefly, give us your view of what should be done in syria

right now? what should the united states do? what should the president do? >> well, i'm skeptical about engaging in still another war in the middle east, but because this is a serious question, i i would intend to listen to the president, to evaluate his arguments, to look at his evidence. that's what we should do, to take this seriousry. >> congresswoman zoe lofgren, thank you for your time. >> thank you. thank you for watches. all you "hardball" fans, don't worry you can catch chris matthews at 7:00 p.m. coming up right now, it's the return of the ed show. catch that coming up next. ♪

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good evening. it's 5:00. let's get to work, not war. >> i've not made a decision. >> as far as syria is concerned, i'm all out. >> i have gotten options from our military, had extensive discussions with the national security team. >> mr. president, i hope you don't do this. >> send a shot across the bow saying stop doing this. that can have a positive impact on our national security over the long term. >> if we do a strike, we're in it, okay? the syrians are a different breed of cat when it comes to retaliation. >> i have no interested in any open-ended conflict in syria. thanks for watching